At one of the largest European opera festivals, the 69th Puccini Festival, an exhibition about the famous Ukrainian opera singer Solomiya Krushelnytska was presented in Torre del Lago in Italy. Exhibition “Grand Tour: Solomia. Ukraine – Italy” was implemented by the team of the Solomiya Krushelnytska Memorial Music Museum in Lviv with the support of the Ukrainian Cultural Fund.
Exhibition “Grand Tour: Solomia. Ukraine – Italy” was developed by Ukrainian media artist Serhiy Petlyuk. Its feature is the multi-layered design, which combines informative materials about the career and life path of the world-famous artist, unique archival photos and audio recordings. Visitors have the opportunity to hear the incredible soprano of Solomiya Krushelnytska: more than a century old archival recordings of arias from the operas “Madame Butterfly” by G. Puccini and “Valkyrie” by R. Wagner.
“In addition to her great talent, attractiveness, and incredible beauty of her voice, the singer remains for us an example of determination, patriotism, and intelligence. I hope that visitors will learn more about the singer herself and about the unique connection that we have between Ukraine and Italy,” says Mykhailo Kobryn, director of the Solomiya Krushelnytska Memorial Music Museum in Lviv.
On the opening day of the exhibition, the premiere of the new production of the opera “Madame Butterfly” was also held at the festival. This operatic masterpiece received its world recognition thanks to the performance of Solomiya Krushelnytska. The Ukrainian singer took the risk after the failed premiere of this opera to perform the leading part and perfectly embody the tragedy of the feelings of the Japanese girl Chio-Chio-san.
“She was a beautiful woman who knew the Italian language very well and lived in the nearby town of Viareggio. Our friends – the Puccini Foundation and the Solomiya Krushelnytska Museum in Lviv are doing an important job in preserving the memory of two great artists,” says Franco Moretti, director of the Puccini Festival.